Image blending is an effective way to hide the intensity discontinuities between different regions that are being seamed together inside an image compositing or stitching application. One popular blending technique computes an image that best matches a set of gradient constraints that are derived from the gradients of the original source images being composited. Generally, this technique re-formulates the blending as an optimization of an offset field (which is sometimes referred to as an offset image or map) that has a zero gradient everywhere except along the seam boundaries, where it must match the difference between the adjacent source images. Inherent in this approach is the requirement to solve a large optimization problem. Multi-grid or hierarchical basis approaches are often used to accelerate the solution of the optimization problem.